


Balloons and Dragons

by Lavender_chan



Series: Valentine's Day 2018 [2]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, Reader Is Not Chara, Reader Is Not Frisk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-14
Updated: 2018-02-14
Packaged: 2019-03-18 10:37:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,402
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13679994
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lavender_chan/pseuds/Lavender_chan
Summary: It’s Valentine’s Day and you’re already sick of seeing all the cutesy gifts and knowing you won’t get any almost made you call in for work sick. Still, you’re kind of glad you went to work today.





	Balloons and Dragons

**Author's Note:**

  * For [VividlyLost](https://archiveofourown.org/users/VividlyLost/gifts).



> I hope you like it, Viv~

Why pink and red? They didn’t even look good together. Bright red hearts, lined in lace and lettered with white; pink hearts, plain and _everywhere_ and just….

Gross.

Okay, so you were being a little unfair; you could live with that. What was hard to live with was the fact that it was February 14th, at only 6am and yet you were already being bombarded with couples exchanging gifts and hanging all over each other. Is the coffee shop really the place to do this sort of thing? Coffee dates were a thing, sure, but weren’t you supposed to do expensive dates on the big day? Whatever, you weren’t getting anything this year anyway, so you didn’t have to worry about it.

The number of couples ahead of you in line was really only annoying in that each one seemed to not know what they wanted when they finally got to the register, since every single one of them spent way to much time kissing and giggling to actually look at the menu. Didn’t all these people have work or something?

Next time, drive-thru was going to be the better option--or maybe you’d choke down fast-food coffee for the sake of getting to work on time.

Work wasn’t really a refuge either. As soon as you walked into the main lobby, you could see work couples taking up couches and corners as they quietly spoke about whatever plans they had after work.

And being stuck in the elevator with two couples who couldn’t stop kissing behind you like they were somehow getting away with it just made you want to make a pitstop at your boss’s desk and tell him you needed a mental health day or something. Maybe if you were lucky, he’d be willing to let you go with no fuss.

“Sorry,” One of the women offered as you stepped off the elevator and you shook yourself.

You were really letting this get to you; maybe if you just took a detour to the break room for another cup of coffee, you could shake this bad mood off and-

And there was another couple making out at the back table. Great.

You turned your head away pointedly and headed for the coffee pot before you went through the motions of making a strong pot of coffee; your head and heart were miles away. Who would give you a valentine, anyway? You were close to a few people, but you had never been really romantically close to many others, and those you were interested in seemed so...out of your league.

The fact that a single face came to mind when you thought of someone out of your league made you blush. The face in particular belonged to the owner of a bar you frequented; it was a cozy place that usually saw more monsters than humans, but everyone was friendly. And then there was the owner. Grillby.

You felt your face burn just thinking about the way his hands cleaned glasses and the way he chuckled when Sans finally gave up on the fire puns...Ugh, a puddle was already happening in the back corner of the breakroom, it didn’t need to happen in front of the coffee maker, too.

A sudden rush of squeals came from the direction of the elevators, but when you glanced over, all you saw was a flash of colorful balloons down the hall. You rolled your eyes and filled your coffee cup. Another lucky heart about to be wooed, you were sure; well, at least it was just a delivery and not another couple leaving a mess.

The walk to your desk was unusual in that people seemed to be eyeing you. You felt uneasiness creep up your spine, especially when you saw a few people lean out of their cubicles to watch you walk by. Just what was so interesting, all of sudden?

That’s when you saw them.

Floating above your cubicle were several brightly colored balloons, none of which were red or pink; instead, beautiful oranges and yellows and a few blue clustered together beautifully with matching colored strings that disappeared behind your cubicle wall. You swallowed and felt your feet slow. Just who would send you balloons on valentine’s day?

_You’re going to think it’s silly, Grillby._

Your breath left you when you stepped into your space and saw what the strings were attached to. A beautifully adorable tangerine colored dragon plush sat on your keyboard, it's large eyes sparkling in wide affection up at you.

_Alright, I….stop laughing! I really like dragons! There, see? It's silly!_

It was a style of plush that some were disturbed by, with the large round eyes and almost pleading gaze, but they were your favorite. You slowly slid into your seat, not reaching out to touch the gift yet. Had they delivered it to the right cubicle? There was no way that this was for you.

_I’ve always like the idea of dragons, I guess. There’s a sort of beauty to them; they can go anywhere, do anything. They’re free. And they can fly, so, props.”_

And yet, when you reached out and flipped open the card, there your name was in a neat scrawl. There was no way that was hand-written, the flowy script almost looked like flames. You swallowed and _immediately_ knew who got this for you, even though there was no name signed.

_Thank you...for not laughing, Grillby._

You only realized your cheeks were burning when your boss stopped by your desk and knocked on your wall.

“Hey, congrats,” She said, smiling at the stuffed dragon, “You gotta stash the balloons under your desk or in the breakroom; everyone’s being immature about them.”

“R-right, sorry,” You tried to laugh, but it sounded thick and forced to your own ears. 

The day crawled, but only because you knew where you wanted to be as soon as you could clock out.

It wasn’t quite six o’ clock when your car finally rolled into Grillby’s parking lot. The balloons were stuffed in the trunk, but the dragon was sitting in the passenger seat. The parking lot was still mostly empty; the after-dinner rush was still a little bit away and there were only a few regulars inside as you slipped through the door.

The bar was empty--even Sans seemed missing for now and that was unusual--so you climbed into a seat and held the dragon against your chest as you waited for Grillby to come out from the back. Nagging doubts started to slip into your brain and you swallowed hard.

What if he wasn’t the one who sent the dragon? This could be one huge misunderstanding, maybe your dad had sent it to cheer you up. You jumped when you heard the door open and the fire apparition came toward you. He stopped in front of you and you swallowed, your voice stuck in your throat.

“Welcome back,” He said, his voice low.

The way his eyes trailed from your down to the dragon plush in your arms finally triggered your brain to do something more than just sit and stare at the attractive fireman.

“Thank you,” You blurted out and felt your cheeks burn.

There was a pause while he leaned forward, resting his forearms on the back edge of the bar. A smirk curled on his lips, “You’re very welcome. I didn’t know if you’d guess it was me or not.”

“I knew immediately,” You said quietly, your eyes searching his slowly.

Another moment of silence grew between you, where Grillby’s hand moved toward yours. His knuckled dragged slowly over your fingers, almost asking if he could touch. Your fingers clumsily laced with his.

“I would like to take you to dinner, if you want,” Grillby said, his lips quirking up into a bigger smile; your burning face and breathless words spoke volumes and the color made you prettier, somehow.

“I would really like that,” You said, leaning forward; your eyes darted down to his lips as they moved and you felt yourself swallow.

The dragon was smushed into the edge of the bar as the two of you moved closer; his lips were gentle and the buzz of magic and the feeling of his flames licking at your skin made you shudder and hum into the kiss.

Maybe Valentine’s Day wasn’t so bad after all.


End file.
